Mathematical modeling of polymer particles with a pomegranate-like internal structure via micro-dispersive polymerization in a geometrically confined reaction space

Abstract

A mathematical model is presented to describe a micro-dispersive suspension polymerization (MDSP) that yields pomegranate-like polymer micro-particles by inducing a local phase separation within suspended monomer micro-droplets. A modular approach is applied to theoretically understand the morphological development. It is proposed that two distinctive polymerization regions develop within a suspended droplet: (i) an outer region close to the droplet interface where a pseudo-homogeneous polymerization takes place to build the peel of the pomegranate-like structure and (ii) an inner region at the particle core where a starved dispersion polymerization takes place to generate the "arils" of the pomegranate-like structure. The model simulations agree reasonably well with the experimental results. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.